76 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



friends, " That goes ahead of the famous so- 

 pranoist who has been singing so charmingly in 

 the auditorium, doesn't it ? " And I am sure 

 it did. If you bend your ear on the trills of 

 the song sparrow, and try to analyze his tones, 

 you will agree with me that no human voice 

 could jjroduce anything so fine. 



Our tenting place was near a beautiful 

 lake along whose bush-and -reed-fringed shores 

 I often strolled, and everywhere the song sj)ar- 

 rows were in tune. While some of them were 

 familiar, coming near our tent, singing blithely 

 and helping themselves to crumbs thrown 

 upon the ground, others were found in the 

 wildest marshes and thickets along the border 

 of the lake. You see, some of them were dis- 

 posed to be sociable, while others preferred 

 seclusion. I hope my readers, young and old 

 alike, are on familiar terms with the song spar- 

 row, which is a brown little bird with a speck- 

 led bosom and a large dusky spot on the 

 center of his chest. You will find him mostly 

 about low and damj) places, although he some- 

 times ventures to take up residence in higher 

 localities, especially if there are springs and 

 running streams. 



Among the most familiar birds that came 

 around our tent were the purple grackles or 



